The government has decided to scrap the controversial Cyber Security Act (CSA).
Law Adviser Dr Asif Nazrul said this yesterday after a views exchange meeting with the stakeholders, where an overwhelming view was for doing away with the law, which has been criticised for the widespread abuse it was put to by the former Awami League government.
The program was held at the Judicial Administration Training Institute (JATI) with two advisers of the interim government—Dr Asif Nazrul and Information and Broadcasting Adviser Md Nahid Islam—listening to lawyers, academics, journalists, activists, students, and experts giving their views on the law.
A Law Ministry official presented some amendments saying that if adopted, the CSA could be reformed as a law, but an overwhelming majority of the speakers strongly recommended annulling the law. They suggested replacing the Cyber Security Act, 2023, with a fresh one, which would not infringe on the rights of the people.
The participants said the previous authoritarian regime used the CSA and its preceding laws—the Digital Security Act (DSA) and the ICT Act—as tools to further expand its authoritarian rule and victimised many people through subjecting them to false accusations, arrests, and torture.
They were critical of the CSA giving arbitrary arrest and raid conducting powers to law enforcers and allowing BTRC the power of taking down or blocking contents in the name of protecting cyber security.
Jagannath University student Khadijatul Kubra, who had to endure 15 months of imprisonment in cases filed against her under such laws, explained how her bail prayers were rejected time and again, and how her academic life was devastated.
Barrister Sara Hossain said people are still fighting cases filed against them for their role in the safe road movement of 2018, and a teacher she knows still remains suspended as a consequence of legal tangles.
Other participants told the meeting that the CSA has been used in contravention of investigative journalism and has helped create a climate of fear.
They said the law is beyond amendments and should be scrapped without further delay.
The speakers said hundreds of people endured harassment, arrests, and jails for committing no offences, as in an overwhelmingly majority of cases, police probes ultimately found the accused to be not guilty.
